Richard thompson



(No Model.)

R; THOMPSON. HUILE-R TUBE GLEANBR.

' No. 503,359. Patented Aug. 15, 1893.

@www n?? ,Aff t UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD THOMPSON, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE THOMPSON &

BUSHNELL COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BOlLER-TUBE CLEAN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,359, dated August 15, 1893.

Application fled June 7, 1892. Serial No. 435,816- (No model.)

T all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, RICHARD THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New York, State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Boiler-Tube Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

It has long been common to remove the loose ashes and soot from the horizontal 1o tubes of boilers by inducing a strong current of air or steam through them by the force of a jet of steam from the same or from another boiler, applied usually at the ends of the tubes farthest from the fire. There are two principal ways of inducing such, one by blowing with steam alone or with steam mingled with air drawn in by the force of the jet, in the direction to force the current away from the cleaning device. Another mode is by 2o drawing a current of air or of gases from the furnace by the aid of steam jets impelled in the opposite direction. In the former mode, the cleaner acts by driving the loose dirt from itself, While in the latter, it acts by z 5 drawing the loose dirt toward itself.

There are frequently occurring conditions under which it is desirable to change from one method of cleaning to the other. Ihave discbvered a form of the device which can 3o serve in either method, according as itis connected and turned, so as to present one end or the other to the boiler-tube. In other words the invention is capable by a simple change of connections of serving to clean the tubes by either one method or the other as shall be preferred in any case. In one position, it cleans the tubes by driving the current of air and steam from itself,--if the device is applied at the end most distant from 4o the furnace, it will drive the dirt into the furnace. In the opposite or reverse position, it draws the dirt through itself, and ejects it up the stack to be carried away by the draft.

I screw-thread the interior of thelarge end and fit therein a screw threaded ring capable of being adjusted outward and inward to a considerable extent, carrying a tapering nose in the form of a thin cross-piece, by turning which the device can be caused to project to 5e a large extent and guide the device in being applied upon large tubes, or can be set farther inward and thus adapt the device to match on small tubes. This adjustable nose is important in aiding to center the device when it is adj usted to work in the second condition or suctionwise.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specication, and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure l is a side elevation of my cleaner, with a vertical section of the adjacent portion of the tube. It is in position for cleaning by forcing the dirt away from the device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with a vertical section of 65 the adjacent portion of the tube, the cleaner being in position for drawing the dirt. Fig.

3 is a central vertical section in a position corresponding to Fig. l. It shows the internal construction. Fig. 2is a central section 7o of a portion. It corresponds to Fig. 2. Fig.

2" is a view of the ring detached, seen from the left.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

A, is the tube, and A', is the adjacent portion of the boiler shell. My cleaner is a single piece of cast iron or other suitable material, but I will designate its parts by differ- 8o ent letters. The central portion is a curved chamber of circular cross section marked B.

It is provided with a belt of small holes c, iu-

clined as indicated in Fig. 3. Around the exterior of the chamber B, and connecting with 8 5 the holes e, is an annular chamber D, adapted to receive steam through either of two equal orifices D D2, arranged at an angle with each other, equally tapped and adapted to receive in either, the screw threaded tube E, which 9o is provided with flexible hose and serves as a conduit to deliver into the chamber D, strong steam from the boiler, and allow it to be forcibly expelled in a number of small streams through the inclined holes c. These violently ejected currents all act on the air or gases,

to impel them toward the contracted end G. The tube E, is properly coated or extended so that it may serve as a handle.

The device is adapted either to matchtightly roo into the end of the tube A, or against the boiler shell A around the exterior of such tube. The first position allows the jets issning from the holes c, to force the airand steam through the tube A, thereby driving away the dirt. The second position impels the air and steam in the opposite direction by presenting the jets from the orifices c, so as to draw the dirt through the tube and discharge it through the device. I provide a removable plug E. If the tube E, is inserted through the orifice D, to serve by blowing the dirt away, the pl ug E', must be inserted in the orifice D2. This is the condition shown in Figs. 1 and 3. If, on the contrary, the tubular handle is to be inserted in the orifice D2, so as to make the device serve by pulling the dirt, the plug E', must be inserted in the orifice D', this is the condition shown in Fig. 2. The exchange of the tubular handle E, and the screw plug E', from one position to the other may be effected with very little labor or delay.

H designates the-receiving end. It is provided with a soft rubber ring and is adapted to match tightly against the outer face of the boiler shell adjacent to the tube when the cleaner is to be used suction-wise, that is to say, by creating a partial vacuum in the tube and drawing the air and dirt through the cleaner. The interior of the end H is screwthreaded, as indicated at h, and receives a correspondingly screw-threaded ring I,which carries a projecting nose formed by an approximately triangular cross-web I', (see Figs. 2 and 2a.) By turning this ring I the nose I is caused to project to a greater or less extent beyond the end H. When the device is to be used in cleaning small tubes the ring I is turned to draw in the nose to the requiredL position. Vhen the device is used to clean larger tubes, the ring I should be turned so as to cause the nose to project farther. The correct adjustment is attained when the nose projects to such extent that it just applies in the end of the tube sufflciently to allou7 the rubber packing ring which projects slightly beyond the end H of the cleaner to bear fairly against the exterior of the boiler mal-zing a tight joint therewith.

In many cases it may be preferred to Yap-Y Vply the device to the lirebox end of the tubes where it is to be used for forcing so that the dirt shall always be moved in the direction of the draft, for the reason, among others, that the loose dirt ejected shall not be again drawn into the same or any others of the set of tubes'.

The device will operate successfully by either method, according as the end G, or end H, is applied to the boiler. If the nozzle G, is inserted in the tube, the current will move from the device through the tube; if on the contrary, the nozzle 1-1, is applied to the tube end, or to the boiler shell surrounding the tube end, the current will move through the tube toward my cleaner.

There may be situations in which my cleaner may be thus reversed Withoutchanging the connection of the tubular handle E, but ysimply changing the position in which such handle is held by the attendant; in most cases, however, it will be preferable to change the connections, and in each mode of use to hold the tubular handle in a nearly horizontal position about in line with the tube which is to be cleaned.

The ring Iand its attached triangular blade or nose serves as a guide in applying the device successively to the several tubes A, when my cleaner is used suction-wise. l/Vhen it is used the other way, to blow the material-the ring performs no function; if it be desired to remove the slight obstruction it offers to the entrance of the air the ring with its attached nose can be unscrewed and laid aside. This guide is not necessarily indispensable to the use of the cleaner even when it is used suction-Wise.

I claim as my inventionl. A tube-cleaner having acentral chamber or body, one end contracted to match within the boiler tube and the other end adapted to match on the boiler shell exterior to the tube, and provided with the annular steam chamber D, with inclined orifices c, leading from the latter into the interior of the chamber, adapted to eject steam therefrom toward the contracted end G, and the whole arranged to receive gases through the end H, and to deliver them mingled with steam through the end G, in combination with each other, and with the two screw threaded nozzles D', D2, standing at an angle relatively to each other, and with the screw threaded pipe E, engaged exchan geably in either one of said nozzles, capable of serving both as a conduit for the steam and as a handle for holding the device when in operation, and with means, as the screw plug E', for tightly closing the other nozzle, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein speciied.

2. A tube cleaner having provisions for injecting currents of steam to induce an active movement, and screw-threaded interiorly, inY combination with the thin tapering nose I and ring I, the latter being screw-threaded on its exterior to match the screw-threads in the receiving end, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth IafnX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RICHARD THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES R. SEARLE, M. F. BOYLE.

IOO 

